shielded

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of shield.

   Police officers shielded the witness from reporters as she left the courthouse.

   The company has shielded its workers from the worst of the layoffs.

   Note

   This is a regular verb, so one form covers the simple past (she shielded her eyes) and the participle after have or in the passive (was shielded from the press). Most often it takes an object plus from, naming what is kept away. In British use it can also stand alone, meaning to shelter or protect oneself, so people can simply have shielded, with no object at all.

2. 2
   adjective

   Kept safe from danger or from outside influence.

   Bondholders are relatively shielded from the swings of the stock market.

   The most shielded corner of the harbor stayed calm all through the storm.

   Similarprotected, sheltered, insulated, safe

   Oppositeexposed, vulnerable, unprotected

   Note

   The adjective describes a lasting state rather than an act, and the telltale sign is that it grades: more shielded, most shielded, relatively shielded. That is how to tell it from the past participle in a passive sentence: the witness was shielded by officers reports what someone did, while a shielded corner of the harbor simply is sheltered.

3. 3
   adjective

   Equipped or fitted with a shield.

   The engineer chose shielded wire, wrapped in a thin metal braid, for the audio connections.

   A line of shielded warriors stood ready at the gate, their round bucklers raised.

   Oppositeunshielded

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